Enabling Community
Library Annual Report—2012/2013
Meet the Chief Librarian
and Chief Information
Officer
This first issue of the McLaughlin Library’s Annual Report marks the beginning
of my second year as the Chief Librarian and Chief Information Officer for the
University of Guelph. These milestones are valuable not only to reflect upon
the opportunities and challenges that marked my first year in office, but also to
look ahead in order to prepare for the future during a time of continual change
in higher education.
I was initially attracted to the University of Guelph based on its reputation as
an innovative leader, particularly in regards to teaching and learning, an area
in which the library is a key partner with our Learning Commons. Additionally
the importance of community was another compelling aspect in my decision.
Having now had a year to participate in the diversity of collaborations that take
place at all levels of the institution, I fully appreciate the intensity and passion
with which we embrace our mission of changing lives and improving life. This
commitment and these values inform both our plans and decisions.
The library has a well-established place in the overall life of the institution. As a
physical space it figures prominently in the lives of students. As such, we work
continuously to improve services and enhance spaces based on user needs
and feedback. From a new Ask Us desk, designed to provide quick and
efficient service, to our collaboration with the College of Arts in establishing a
post-doctoral fellowship in Digital Humanities, we continue to evolve in order
to meet the changing needs of our community.
Our engagements extend beyond the physical boundaries of the library
through our ongoing consortial collaborations with Wilfrid Laurier University
and the University of Waterloo, staff involvement in provincial and national
initiatives related to research data management, open access, and geospatial
data, as well as research support for faculty working around the world. The
coming year will see the completion of a Library Master Space Plan, which
will serve as a roadmap for future planning of renovations, and partnering with
other campus units on the development and introduction of new classroom
models facilitating active learning.
I am grateful for your interest and continued support of the University of
Guelph’s McLaughlin Library and look forward to sharing news of the coming
year with you in next year’s Annual Report.
Sincerely,
Rebecca A. Graham,
Chief Librarian & Chief Information Officer
rebecca.graham@uoguelph.ca
1
Improving Library Services & Space
A New Service Model—The Ask Us Desk
In the fall of 2012, a new service desk was added to the first floor of the library: the Ask Us desk. Named to
complement the Ask Us reference service and intended to replace and re-conceptualize the Research Help desk, the
Ask Us desk provides quick answers to common research questions. Users requiring more in-depth assistance are
encouraged to make a research appointment.
As the focal point in the library’s entrance, the Ask Us desk was well received by students, faculty and staff.
Planning for the Future
Currently 93% of the study space on campus is found in the library and during the fall and winter semesters, it’s not
uncommon for every seat to be filled at any given time­—we simply need more space. To address this need, Cannon
Design International (Cannon), an architectural design firm with a specialty in designing academic libraries, was hired
to create a comprehensive master space plan. Guided by user feedback, Cannon and the Library’s Master Space
Planning Working Group, made up of library staff, and the Master Space Planning Advisory Group, made up of library
staff, faculty and students, will work together to create a space plan for the McLaughlin Library of the future. The
space requirements listed in the Council of Ontario Universities space guidelines will serve as the plan’s benchmark.
The goal is to have a comprehensive plan by December 2013.
What’s in a
number?
1
#
The ranking assigned to the
McLaughlin Library by Maclean’s
magazine for relevancy and
currency of its acquisitions
2
A Space for Active Engagement
Here at the library, we understand that education is as much about the journey as the destination and that learning
experiences and education come in many forms; often, outside of the classroom. That is why we introduced the
Academic Town Square (ATS) a few years ago.
Located on the first floor of the library, the ATS is a public space for contemplation, for active engagement and for
the celebration of learning and research. A place where the various disciplines and constituencies of U of G can be
visible to one another and can meet and interact to exchange ideas and perspectives, thereby creating new areas of
knowledge and understanding. Many library and campus events are hosted here.
Celebrating Campus Authors
Each year, U of G faculty, staff, students, alumni and retirees write, edit and translate an impressive number of books
that reflect the breadth and diversity of the campus community’s research, personal and professional interests. The
library celebrates campus authors and their publishing accomplishments each November during the Campus Author
recognition event in the Academic Town Square. In 2012, 79 authors and 78 books were celebrated. Since the
program started in 2006, we have celebrated the publishing of 565 books that reflect U of G’s intellectual and creative
diversity.
The 2013 Campus Author event will take place on Thursday, November 7.
Experiential Learning
The first annual Gryphon’s Den took place this past November in the Academic Town Square. The ultimate test
of students’ business savvy and public speaking skills, the event was a collaborative partnership between the
McLaughlin Library, the College of Management and Economics and Co-operative Education and Career Services,
who recruited representatives from top-tier organizations including BioEnterprise, LinkedIn, Maple Leaf Foods,
Pepsico, and RIM to act as the judges. Three out of the five Gryphon’s Den judges were also U of G alums including:
• Kate Galbraith, Senior Marketing Director, Maple Leaf Foods, ‘00
• Ben Kelly, Account Director, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn Canada, ‘99
• Mathew Moore, Director, Source-to-Pay, RIM, ‘02
Over 200 people attended the event where 12 groups of students made their three minute pitches using only product
sketches or prototypes. The winning team won $500 for their concept of a GPS-driven dog collar system called Tag
Along. The pitches were part of their final assignment in the MCS *4100 entrepreneurship course taught by Librarian
and Learning and Curriculum Support Acting Head, M.J. D’Elia.
93%
Of study space on campus
is found in the Library
3
Supporting Student Learning
Our award-winning Learning Commons academic services help support students in their learning, writing, research,
numeracy and use of technology. Our Learning Commons is fully integrated into all student support services and into
the formal academic curriculum. An important pillar of the Learning Commons is our Library Accessibility Services
where state-of-the-art technology enables students with disabilities to read, write and research more effectively.
Testimonials:
“Through Learning Services, we set up specialized workshops targeted at just students who struggled with the
midterm. They facilitated the process and designed activities around my material to help the students not just with the
material but also their learning and problem solving skills. After the workshops, we saw an average improvement of
21% between the midterm and final exam grades of the targeted students.”
—Dr. Andy Robinson, Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator, Animal and Poultry Science
“Being a Supported Learning Groups (SLG) Leader, I feel like I’m really contributing to the University in a special way,
doing something worthwhile that completely fits with my personality and skill set. I feel like I’ve really made a difference
with helping students succeed, it’s amazing!”
—Jackie Hamilton, Current SLG Leader
13,000
The number of cookbooks in
our Culinary collection
Built for (1968) 9,000 students
Actual (2012)
21,596
4
Student-Athlete
Mentor (SAM) Profile
Student Athlete
Name: Nadine Frost
Hometown: Saint Andrews, New Brunswick
Year/Major: 4th year / BS Toxicology
Sport: Cross Country & Track and Field
2012/13 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman Award
What is the SAM program?
The SAM program matches academically successful senior athletes
with incoming student-athletes to help them succeed. We’ve
learned how to juggle athletics and academics so we can help
young athletes do the same.
Why did you join?
As a student and varsity athlete, I had to find the balance between
the demands of athletics and academics. The SAM program gives
me an opportunity to pass that experience along to other studentathletes who may be struggling to achieve that.
How long have you been part of the SAM program?
Since the fall of 2012.
As a mentor, what have you learned about dealing with
other student-athletes?
Working with the SAM program has opened my eyes to the
challenges student-athletes face and challenged me to find new
ways to help them.
What do you appreciate about being a U of G athlete?
Running on the team has given me a chance to train and compete
with the best Cross Country & Track & Field program in Canada. I
love being a Gryphon.
The number of celebrated
Campus Author books since 2006
5
Preserving History
U of G has one of the most comprehensive collections of historically significant Scottish books and manuscripts in the
world. During the Winter 2013 term, Archival & Special Collections initiated a pilot project with the History Department
to digitize selected Scottish chapbooks, magazine-style literature on a variety of subjects, which were published in
Scotland in the mid-17th -19th centuries. The project provided fourth year history students with a unique handson experience working with primary resources in the field of digital humanities. Students learned about the process
of curating an online exhibit and created high quality digital facsimiles and metadata for the chapbooks to improve
access to and preservation of both the physical and virtual collections. Thirty of our more than 580 chapbooks were
digitized.
In addition, the library was able to digitize over 300 titles from our extensive Scottish Studies collections and make
them publicly available online at www.archive.org through the financial support of the Scottish Studies Foundation.
Expanding the Archives
Archives and Special Collections offers a passageway to cultural, social, physical and political history of the University
of Guelph and its disciplines. When Robert “Bob” Whitelaw sold the thriving agricultural company, Agrico Canada Ltd.,
he wanted to ensure that the company’s papers were properly preserved in the Archives’ Agricultural History and Rural
Heritage Collection. When he learned that there was little physical space left in the library to accept donations, he
promptly donated $500,000 to support the Archives renovations through The Archives Project.
As part of The BetterPlanet Project, The Archives Project aims to raise $9 million to expand the Archives facilities in
U of G’s McLaughlin Library, allowing students, faculty, staff, researchers and the community a greater opportunity to
explore and engage with our world-renowned collections.
(Below: Rosalie Tennison, Bob Whitelaw, Rebecca Graham and Alastair Summerlee)
55,000
The number of students involved in
Learning Commons programming
in 2011/12
6
Celebrating Success
Staff Awards & Recognition
• Robin Bergart, User Experience Librarian
— 2011 Ontario College and University Library Association (OCULA) Award for Special Achievement, Innovation
Boot Camp
• Jim Brett, User Services Librarian
—2012 Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Academic Librarianship Award
—2012 Ontario Library Association (OLA) President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement
• M.J. D’Elia, Acting Head, Learning & Curriculum Support
— 2011 Ontario College and University Library Association (OCULA) Award for Special Achievement, Innovation
Boot Camp
• Margaret Hundleby, Writing Consultant, Writing Services
— Conference on College Composition and Communication’s 2012 Technical and Scientific Communication Award
in the category of Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication, Assessment in
Technical and Professional Communication
• Jenny Marvin, GIS Librarian
— Ontario Library and Information Technology Association (OLITA) Award for Technical Innovation
— 2013 OCUL Outstanding Contribution Award
• Peer Helpers honoured
— Naythrah Thevathasan (SLG Leader) and Anita Acai (Writing Peer Helper) were honoured with 3M Canada’s
prestigious National Student Fellowship
Library Campus Authors
A list of all celebrated library staff authors since the event’s humble beginnings in 2006.
• Robin Bergart, User Experience Librarian: Sudden
Selector’s Guide to Business Resources
• Dr. Margaret Hundleby, Writing Consultant: Assessment
in Technical and Professional Communication
• Lorne Bruce, Retired Librarian: Public Library Boards in
Postwar Ontario; Places to Grow: Public Libraries and
Communities in Ontario,1930-2000
• Mary Swan, Retired Library staff member, User Services:
The Boys in The Trees: A Novel
• M.J. D’Elia, Acting Head, Learning & Curriculum
Support: Exploring the Edges of the Information Age
• Marjan Horhota, Retired Librarian: Vybrane: liudy, podiï,
komentari (Selections: People, Facts, Commentary)
7
86
%
•Michael Ridley, Librarian, Former CIO/Chief Librarian:
Beyond Literacy
• Judy Wanner, Information Literacy Librarian: Celebrating
a Century of Success, 1906-2006
• Karen Voss Peters, Library staff member, ERM and
Reserves: William Meets the Stick Family
Percentage of students that
felt that the Library enabled
them to be more efficient in
their academic pursuits
15,799
Number of individual student library
appointments in 2011/12
Giving Back
United Way
Giving back to the greater Guelph community is an important way U of G contributes to create a better planet. Each
year, the entire campus participates in a fundraising campaign to support the United Way. This year, library staff raised
a total of $21,717 for the United Way, surpassing the library’s goal by over $2,000. In total, U of G raised $554,432
for the United Way in 2012.
Leave For Change
Leave for Change is a program that allows U of G employees to transform their holidays into international volunteer
assignments. Offered since 2007, in partnership with Uniterra, a joint initiative of World University Service of Canada
(WUSC) and the Centre for International Studies and Co-operation, U of G’s Leave for Change program annually
sponsors up to seven employees who volunteer their knowledge and skills overseas during short assignments in
developing countries.
Inspired by two Leave for Change trips, U of G professor Jacqueline Murray wanted to find a way to help reboot
literacy goals in Ghana and approached the library for help. The library donated 125 computers with power cords,
mice and keyboards to her cause. When Murray returned to Ghana in the summer of 2013, she witnessed the impact
of the donation. “Prior to the donation, none of the regional or district offices had computers. In one district office I
visited a year ago, this meant that if something needed to be “typed” the secretary had to walk into the village to an
internet cafe to use a computer or someone would ride their bicycle in to do reports,” said Jacqueline Murray, “Email
is now used to communicate with the offices across the country and I was working with the ICT (Information and
Communications Technology -- the term they use in Ghana) to investigate using Skype and some other networking
tools in order to have regional directors participate in meetings in real time, using our computers and their modems.
This is revolutionary.” (Below: Professor Jacqueline Murray in Ghana)
8
Librarian Profile
Name: Amanda Etches
Title: Head, Discovery & Access
Why were you drawn to work at U of G?
Three reasons come to mind. First of all, the McLaughlin Library has a
fantastic reputation in the academic library world for innovation. Secondly,
every staff member I talked to before I got here told me that they loved
working here. That made a real impression on me! And finally, in my
previous role, I was focused on the online user experience and I knew
this position would allow me to take a holistic approach to improving the
user experience across all modalities, online and in person. That was
pretty exciting to me!
What do you like best about your job as Head of Discovery &
Access?
If I had to pick one thing, I would say it’s the people. I get to work with
colleagues who are passionate about what we’re doing here and who are
really, truly focused on the user first and foremost. I’m energized by my
colleagues every day!
What do you think is your team’s greatest accomplishment in
the past year?
We’ve taken a real evidence-based approach to changing the first floor
and improving the experience for our users including combining service
desks. What we did this year is really just phase one. We’re working on
plans for the next phases so we continue to improve the user experience
in the building.
What project are you most excited about?
We’re reworking the library website! We’re working on a few specifics that
will improve the usability of it: using the proper university template, making
the site accessible to all users, adding consistent, self-evident navigation,
and totally redoing the homepage so that it works well for 95% of the
tasks that users come to our site to accomplish (and that’s a surprisingly
small number of tasks!) We’ll officially launch the new site in early 2014.
Built for (1968) 625,000 volumes
Actual (2012)
9
1,238,575
262,133
Size of the library in square feet
Michael Ridley
Postdoctoral
Fellowship in Digital
Humanities
2013-2015, College of Arts
The College of Arts has named their newest Postdoctoral Fellowship
after Michael “Mike” Ridley, who was the first University of Guelph Chief
Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Librarian from 2004-2012. The
Fellowship is jointly sponsored by the U of G McLaughlin Library and
College of Arts. Ridley is known for his steadfast leadership and strong
support for the digital humanities.
“Mike has always been a strong supporter of integrating new technologies
in the Arts. He actively supported applications for funding to expand this
area and developed a vision for the library as a partner in research with
academic units, among many other contributions,” said Donald Bruce,
Dean of the College of Arts.
Ridley has been a professional librarian since 1979, working at U of G,
McMaster, and Waterloo. He’s currently on sabbatical, writing a book
about post-literacy, completing a graduate degree, editing an online
magazine, and consulting with several professional organizations. He
maintains a blog at www.michaelridley.ca. His post-literacy research is
available at www.beyondliteracy.com.
92
%
Percentage of McLaughlin
Library users that indicated
we met or exceeded their
expectations
1.5
million
The number of
annual visits to the
McLaughlin Library
10
McLaughlin Library
www.lib.uoguelph.ca